The Rings of Power

I said I wouldn't do any more random posts for a bit, but I have to do this one! Call it for my mental health. I have been doing my own writing again, which has been enjoyable. Then, I go online and see people whining and whining about the Rings of Power. I have an easy fix; if you hate it that much, don't watch! It is easily one of the top things on TV or streaming or whatever we call sitting at home mindlessly watching a screen these days. This show is making me hate nerds! "Oh, that's not how Tolkien had it written in his writings!" I have yet to read them all, AND it probably isn't. The events covered in this series are all compacted. That what goes on happens over hundreds or thousands of years, and they are writing it all together; if you try and make a TV series that covers thousands of years, you are going to run into all kinds of other problems, so yes, they took a short cut to try and make an epic into a shorter series (The opposite of making the Hobbit into three movies) Is it flawless television, no of course not. There isn't a show where armchair directors can't sit and complain about how they would have done it better. RoP has done a great job this season, and here is my take on it! 

Being annoyed, I purchased the Simillarion as an audiobook, which is 19, almost 20 hours long. Gollum himself, Andy Serkis, is reading it., not as Gollum, but he does a great job.

Season one was terrible; I freely admit that. In fact, it made me not want to watch season two. This was sad. The Lord of the Rings (Extended Editions) is a cinematic masterpiece. It would not shock me to find out Peter Jackson sold his soul to make them. They are/were my go-to movies. When I was always hungover on Sundays, I could sit and waste the day watching them. When Theodon and Aragon ride out of Helms Deep expecting to die, you see Gandalf on the hill: "Theoden kings stands alone...." Then Eormer rides up and says, "Not alone. Rohirrrihm! To the king!" That scene actually gets me every single time. Even more than when you hear Falcon as Cap walks to fight Thanos by himself. A frigin masterpiece! Season one of RoP does not do that, and I was doubting the entire series at the end of season one. Looking back on season two, I understand the first season better. If I stick with the MCU analogy, season one is Age of Ultron. First watch, kind of crap. Looking back at how it sets so much up, still crap but essential. That's how I feel about season one. Not up to LoTR material and kind of crap but essential crap.

So, season one was meh, and season two has been excellent. Before getting into it, I must say WOW to Charlie Vickers. In season one, as Hal, he was terrific. In season two as Annatar, he nailed the role. I put him up with Heath as the Joker or RDJ as Iron Man. I truly believe he is trying to make magic rings. If you absolutely hated this season, I do not see how you could hate him. If this show goes all 5 seasons, he will hold it up. I guess he is in Numenor next, and that will be amazing; I cannot wait to see his interactions there. Now it's off my chest, he is impressive, and we can move on.

Let's start in Numenor. This is very Game of Thrones, and it will be even more so when Sauron makes it there. Depending on how close they stick to the story, he will play them for fools, and I think the Game of Thrones style is the way to go. Not a massive fan of how it goes from the most advanced country in the show to Nazis overnight probably should have taken a season at least for that to happen but...... It is a nice mix of the fantasy parts of the series and puts some politics and motivations in it. For those who don't know, Aragon's family comes from Numenor. I won't go too much into the whole back story, but it will be a significant plot point in this series, and I think they are starting it well. It's rushed, but well. While I have said that movies are masterpieces, they lack motivation. We have clear good and evil. There is no grey area with Aragon; he is just a good guy! Numenor isn't; there is a lot at play and more to come. I feel it gives depth to the Lord of the Rings. These are things you only get if you read the appendices. So this is the place to keep your eye on next season; I hope Annatar gets there and a lot goes down. They did a great job with him in Erigion, and I hope they can match it in Numenor. They are doing okay with the wanna-be Prince Joeffery, Kemen. Is that his name? He isn't quite as hatable because he is such a pussy, but I really want to see Isuldur deal with him. I am assuming he won't, though. People seem to think he will become a servant of Sauron, but who knows. Elindil gets kudos as well. While he hasn't been Annatar, he has come off as a noble guy who will likely "save them all." If you know the story, you know what I mean. Pharazon has also done great; he is a schemer; again, he is not quite Little Finger, but I doubt they will get as political as it was. Anyway, I am really enjoying Numenor as it isn't just good vs wrong, but a lot going on and filling out the world. I do wonder if the Doom of Numenor will be next season or closer to the end of the series. I assume it's season 4.

So if I am going to say how good the series has been, I will have to be honest there is some crap. First, the fan service. Ents? Cool to see; really needed? Probably not. If we are 100% honest, even the hobbits, which I think that story MAY be over now, is not really needed. I didn't read the appendices, but from what I understand, the hobbits have nothing to do with this "age." Neither does Gandalf. I get it; it's the hook that draws people in, but if a show is outstanding, it doesn't need a whole storyline on it. A mention or a foreshadowing. Sure, this may explain why Gandalf figured out hobbits had the ring and why he was so fond of them, but I doubt hobbits, or Gandalf was needed to explain the rings. In fact, what is the whole Dark Wizard storyline? I ASSUME it is going somewhere; we meet his minions in season 1, and in season 2, we see a bit of him. People guess he is Saurmon; I hope not. This whole storyline probably didn't need to be here. I am glad we saw less of it in season 2. Tom Bombidail, again, fan service, and yes, it was super cool to see him, but I doubt it was needed. So yes, Amazon wants to get its hooks into everyone, and of course, these characters are big draws, just maybe not required.

The dwarves are growing on me. Again, season 1 not a fan. It seemed like a long, boring story that was unneeded. This season, they were a great way to show the rings corrupting power. The Elven Rings have been fantastic, but Durins' ring shows the Rings' evil, although he thinks it is excellent. Supplying the Mithril clearly is essential; as I said, Durin going mad was great, and even Prince Durin and Disa were more entertaining. The dwarves gave one of the season's worst scenes, though. That attack bat thing when she was singing was so bad... I am guessing we will see a lot more of them as the dwarf rings need to be given to the other kingdoms? I don't know how much they will show, but I want to see what happens with those rings. Me, I need some clarification. Prince Durin hates them, so I don't see him giving them out (Oh, season Finale, I think I see where we are going). We know the elves and the Nazgul, but I am interested in the dwarves and what happens with their rings. I always wondered why Thorin didn't have one.

The Elves and Adar have been amazing. Adar is not a "real" character but has been central to the show. Even with the changing actors, they have done an excellent job. Again, it is another one that was boring in season 1 but great in season 2. I think they should have shown Adar murdering Sauron in season 1, NOT who Sauron comes back as; keep that part for season 2 after the big reveal, but it would have added a lot to him in season 1. Again, filling out the world, giving orcs families, and giving Adar a purpose of just helping them exist was great. It is not just about good and bad guys but also about the reasons for it.  His hatred for Sauron could have been hashed out more; he loves the orcs but is willing to let them all die? I almost wish he had another season or two. His story makes a lot more sense than Gandalf just hanging around. The elves have been handled much better. They aren't perfect beings who jump around and have perfect aims like Legolas. They have pride and vanity; they can have anger and fear. They can be tricked. They are all still pretty good-looking, though! Gil-Galad honestly comes off as a dick right up until the last episode. I do have an issue with Galadriel, though. In the Hobbit series, she is badass! LoTR, she is still a pretty terrifying chick; I get they don't want to make her over-powerful here, but she almost comes off as underpowered? Her dark and terrible queen speech has had so much more impact after this series. Elrond has been alright. I do enjoy he is the only one who saw the evil in the rings and has been saying it the entire second season. I feel he is being used as a fill-in character, which is lame. Hey, we need someone to do something, but we aren't sure how to get there. Have Elrond do it! I guess the same could be said of Arondir; here is another elf just out and about. 

I am not 100% sure what is up with Isildur. He will be a super main character in this story, but what has he been up to? Wandering around, having random adventures, and doing fan service. He was the one who saw the ents. He was the one who ran into Shelob's children. Did he fall in love with one of Adar's minions?? Great, but what does that have to do with the main plot?? On top of that, he returns to Numenour, where his dad is now wanted. Is he dumb? There is no way he thinks that works out well for him. So yes, as much as I am saying RoP is a great show, I have yet to learn the plan for a significant part of the plot.....

Sadly, the season finale was the weakest episode of the season. Durin for example, why couldn't he have sent the army to help earlier?? He couldn't have taken a few guys down and stopped his dad, a single dwarf? Then we get a heartfelt speech about arm wrestling that goes nowhere until old Durin sees a Balrog, remembers he is a good guy, and takes off the ring. It was a decent scene aiming for your feelings, but it was so cheesy and almost too much. Then we find out Prince Durin has a brother?? Two seasons, and this doesn't get mentioned once?? Even a few mentions of him would have been good, so it didn't just become an 80s soap opera. "Your brother is back for the throne!" Then we get Grand-elf, honestly WTF!!! That is just lame, for real. Were they even trying? Beyond that, though, the "evil" wizard shows up. He kills his minion and asks Grand-elf to join him, killing Sauron and ruling Middle Earth. Why is this even a storyline? What was the point of his minions? Then he tries to kill the hobbits. So many people say it is Sarumon. I hope not; this has been one of the most boring stories in this show; let it die. While we see the hobbits moving on, I doubt it's the last of them. I think we all saw Adar's murder coming. No complaints. It was a great scene, but it's sad he is gone. No complaints about the elves and Sauron, though. His and Celembimbor's scenes were amazing. Again, Charlie Vickers deserves an award for this show. Numenor could have been better, but it was alright. It is setting up nicely for Annatar to be there, and he and Pharazon will be a fascinating mix together.  I hope they can be half as good as Annatar and Cel were. Elendil is on the run; that was okay. Setting up next season. 

I will say it, a good chunk of people who don't like this show are insufferable in real life. I can give some of the flaws people bitch about, like Elrond leading a charge, and magically, it all stops before they hit the orc line. That was pretty dumb, and a few things like that are just weak; however, some of the complaints about things like not 100% following Tolkien's writing give it a rest. Just because you read the appendixes semi-annually and know all the Valar's names, no one cares. Bet you are fun at the Xmas party, get out into the real world. It is a fantasy show, and they are cramming a few hundred? Thousand? Years of stories into a 5 season run, a lot will change. I will admit season one struggled, but season two has really turned things around. My biggest thing is if you don't like it, don't watch it! I will admit I finished True Blood and bitched a LOT! I put six seasons into it, so I had to finish that seventh. At this point, RoP was a single season, you're not going to miss out if you don't watch. No, it isn't the LoTR extended version. It isn't going to be a masterpiece, but it is a fun ride, getting its footing. If you hate it, put the remote down and walk away.  

This has nothing to do with RoP, but I need to quickly get it off my chest. Todd Phillips is either the whiniest or dumbest director in Hollywood. Or both, there is always that possibility. He made a great film in 2019 about mental health, society, and crime. He knew that while it might get great reviews from critics and fill art houses, it would likely not be a hit. So he added a nice twist, his main character, Arthur. Well, he is the Joker! Oh, and the Wayne family is in it, and possibly Thomas Wayne is a giant asshole! Now people are going to come!! He takes a pop culture ICON and says he is writing his origin. List after list, the Joker is rated one of the all-time great villains. On-screen, in comics, and basically in any fiction. I am not saying this as a fan, but as a simple fact, I looked it up. Darth Vader is the only one that constantly beats him out. The film makes over a billion dollars. Don't get me wrong, I liked it. He did a great job, but it is more a cultural movie like Fight Club or Taxi Driver than a Batman story. However, with comic movies all the rage, he went down that road, combining what he wanted to say with an icon. Then he gets mad and has a baby fit when his Joker, like Tyler Durden or Travis Bickle, gets whacky followers who don't get the actual message behind the story.  So then he allegedly ruins the Joker to get back at his fans? Like, fuck off, dude. Don't ruin something because you are too dumb to see what would happen. Your thirst to get noticed had you used an icon, and now you're mad about it. Eat a dick.

Oh and I finally finished Supernatural. 230ish hours. What an amazing series it actually was. Yes, it has low and cheesy points, and yes, it does really wander away from monsters and ghosts to angels and demons. The ghosts and ghouls drew me in, but the show was good enough to keep me locked in. The Winchesters did an amazing job together. They really make the show. I read it once. If you were stranded on a deserted island and could bring one thing, what would it be? The answer is Sam Winchester because Dean will be there to rescue him shortly. Yes, by the end, when god is the villain, it is a bit over the top, and the finale shocked me. I guess I can say it, Dean dying, I did not see coming. Although it does play out precisely the way the always said. Dean goes out fighting, and Sam has a family. I can see why it lasted so long; every season is "good," some better than others, but none are like Dexter, where there is a great season and then a terrible season. Also, they really made me love Carry on my Wayward Son. Anywho, I said I wasn't doing blogs like this, so I will stop now, but RoP has become a great show. Todd is an idiot, and I am sad I no longer have Supernatural...